Christopher de Bellaigue, author of TheIslamic Enlightenment, begins his book by proclaiming it has a startling and controversial thesis, namely that all through Islamic history there were reformers trying to bring the religion and the territory, for they are one and the same, into modernity.

To this startling and
controversial thesis, I say Duh. It’s
not the least startling. I am perfectly willing to accept it. There are always
some people, however small a minority, who are trying to move forward from
ignorance toward the light. There’s nothing controversial about that idea at
all.

It doesn’t help de Bellaigue’s
thesis that at the end of the book, he is compelled to admit that all the
reformers failed. In fact, it begs the question why “enlightenment” is even in
the title.

This does not mean, however,
the book is not worth reading. There is a great deal of interesting and well
written history of the Middle East in it. I read it for that reason, gained
more knowledge and insight about the subject, and found it well worth the
effort.